Markets had expected a rise of 150,000. It follows a downwardly revised but still rapid 232,000 increase in April.

Despite the slowdown, it was the eighth month in a row of positive employment growth, according to data from the US Labour Department.

President Obama acknowledged that even though the economy was growing, the US still faced some tough times.

"There's nobody here who doesn't know someone who's looking for work and hasn't found something yet," he said, speaking on a visit to a Chrysler plant in Toledo, Ohio, where he highlighted the turnaround in the car industry after government help.

But he made no specific reference to the latest jobs data.

He added: "There are always going to be bumps on the road to recovery," also citing high fuel prices, the economic problems that followed the earthquake and tsunami in Japan, and instability in the Middle East.

The unemployment rate also rose unexpectedly to 9.1%, from 9% a month earlier.

The number of unemployed remained largely unchanged at 13.9 million, but the number out of work for more than 26 weeks rose by 361,000 to 6.2 million.

Local governments reduced their headcount for the 22nd month in a row, by an unusually large 28,000.

The private sector created 83,000 new jobs in the month, but this is less than is needed to soak up new people coming into the labour market.

"Job gains continued in professional and business services, healthcare and mining," said the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Total employment in the US still remains nearly 5% below the pre-recession peak it registered nearly three-and-a-half years ago, in what has been the worst jobs recession since World War II.